"... and Philosophy"

I suppose that is one way to make philosophy 'fashionable'; present it within the context of whatever is in vogue at the time and hope that people purchase the over-priced books you are attempting to use to exploit a niche market. Good job. I've seen 'The Simpsons and Philosophy', 'Fight Club and Philosophy', and a bunch of others that I can't remember. I'm sure they probably have 'WWE and Philosophy' and 'MMA and Philosophy' by now. But let me put this into context. I wish to speak about 'Beavis & Butthead and Philosophy'. Strange? Probably. How is it that two cartoon morons who couldnt think their way out of a wet paper bag would have some way to contribute to the 'pure thought' of philosophy?

Well let me begin with an event that occurred yesterday. I was sitting in Debonairs (it's a pizza company in South Africa) waiting for the pizza that I had ordered to fill the hole that had cropped up during my day of not eating much. While I had been walking down the hill from UCT towards Debonairs, I had heard some singing going on across the street, but I didnt think much of it; I have seen various popular street bands and buskers during my time here. And then there are the pairs of people on the trains: someone who is blind or has some visible justification for sympathy is led through the traincars by an escort. They then sing about the salvation they are going to receive when they get to heaven, and the salvation that Christ will give them, all the while keeping the beat by shaking the cup full of coins they are using to collect donations like a makeshift tambourine. Ive heard rumours that people are exploiting this: 'renting' these blind people, seniors, babies, and whomever else to try to exploit people's sympathy, and in the end giving the individuals that they rent little or nothing.

But anyway, back to my original point: singers, not so strange a thing to conceive of, even when its dark out. So while I was waiting for my pizza, these same singers came to the door of Debonair's and started belting out their song. At first I took the ascetic look and the robes to imply that they were Buddhists. But then I listened to the chant of 'Hare Hare Krishna Krishna' that had become so familiar to me whilst I was traveling throughout India, noticed that a few of them were sporting Bindi dots, and then it became clear where they were coming from.

So what does this have to do with Beavis & Butthead?

Well I recall one episode, I think it was called 'Balloon'. At the beginning of the episode, they see a plea from someone to stop people being irresponsible with their helium balloons because they drift out to sea, fall into the water, and are choked on by dolphins. So what happens? Our two heroes think 'hey, let's bring some helium balloons to the local aquarium, break them over the pool, and choke these poor aquatic lifeforms... "that would be cool" [of course]'. After the outtakes where they get high on the helium, etc., they go to the aquarium, and they are holding onto the balloons, but then Beavis hands over something that makes him too light to hold the balloons down, so they carry him up over the pool. Butthead takes aim with the slingshot, hits Beavis 'in the nads' causing him to let go of the balloons and fall into the pool. At that moment, 'its hammer time' and a bunch of hammerhead sharks come into the pool. But they are quickly escorted back because there is some sort of 'pollution' being detected in the water. Beavis has had a pee in the pool.

So what?

Well at the end of it all, Butthead asks Beavis 'did you pee in the pool because you were smart, or because you were scared?' And Beavis replies 'because it felt good.'

While I was watching these singers outside of Debonairs, this very idea occurred to me, because a few of the singers were westerners who had taken up the cause of Hare Krishna. One of the individuals in question was a guy that would fall entirely within the bounds of token geek/dork/nerd/loser: awkward face, huge glasses, etc. He had shaved his head except for a ponytail at the back and was belting away along with the rest of the group. So I thought why does it seem that the individuals that seem to be shunned by 'western society' seem to take up these 'alternative' ideologies? Is it because they are smart, and they understand the advantages of doing so? Or is it because they are scared and feel that they need some sort of niche that will accept them without passing judgment? Interestingly, the Hare Krishna movement has had a big effect on hippy culture in the 60s (many people from beat poets to the Beatles justify this claim), and by going to India, one can see that Krishna and hippies still go hand in hand. So what is it about these alternative individuals with their alternative lifestyles? Are they coming (into what they deem to be a better world-view) or are they going (from a world that they feel rejected within)?

Or are these ideas fundamentally the same, just looked at from two different vantage points?